11 August 1941:Attached to the China Area Fleet’s First China Expeditionary Fleet.

20 August 1941:LtCdr Yamasaki Kakichi (50) is appointed CO.

1 April 1942:Attached to the Yangtze River Squadron’s Upper River Division.

22 June 1942: Operation SE (SE-Go Sakusen):
SUMIDA, and river gunboats KATADA and SETA and four small unidentified gunboats are attached to the Tung-Ting Lake Force, one of several forces participating in Operation SE. That same day, SUMIDA is damaged in an air raid by five fighters at Cheng-ling-chi at 29-26N, 113-08E. Cdr Yamazaki and 11 cremen are KIA. Cdr Yamazaki is prompted Captain, posthumously. [1]

24 June 1942:Arrives at Hangkow. Undergoes temporary repairs.

27 June 1942:LtCdr (later Cdr) Hashimoto Masao (56) is appointed CO.

3 July 1942:Departs Hangkow.

7 July 1942:Arrives at Shanghai.

10 July 1942:Enters dock.

25 July 1942:Undocked.

19 August 1942:Departs Shanghai. Attached to the Yangtze River
Squadron’s Lower River Division.

20 August 1943:Attached to the Yangtze Area Special Base Force. Arrives at Kiangnan (Konan) Engineering and Dock Works, Shanghai. Armored glass is installed.

26 August 1943:An unknown officer is appointed CO.

1 September 1943:Attached to the Yangtze River Squadron’s Middle River Division.

4 September 1943:Departs Shanghai. Later, patrols the Hankow area.

22 June 1944:Hankow. Twenty B-24 “Liberators” of the USAAF Fourteenth Air Force bomb the dock area. SUMIDA is damaged in the attack and eight crewmen are KIA.

10 October 1944:Attached to the Yangtze Area Special Base Force’s First Gunboat Division.

25 November 1944:Hankow. Twenty-one B-24s of the USAAF Fourteenth Air Force bomb the warehouse area and dock areas. SUMIDA is slightly damaged in the attack.

10 January 1945:The First Gunboat Division is deactivated. Attached to the Yangtze Area Special Base Force’s 22nd Gunboat Division.

10 May 1945:The 22nd Gunboat Division is deactivated. Attached to the Yangtze Area Special Base Force’s 21st Gunboat Division.

September 1945:After the termination of the war, SUMIDA is ceded to the Republic of China (Nationalist Party). Renamed NAN CHANG.

3 May 1947:Removed from the Navy List.

30 November 1949:Captured by the Chinese Communists. Renamed CHIANG HSI by the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN).

Author's Notes:
[1] Cheng-ling-chi ("castle mausoleum beach") is situated on the right bank of the Yochow Reach, the eastern outlet of the Tung-Ting Lake. Cheng-ling was the treaty port of Yochow (Yüeh-Yang), first opened to foreigners on 13 November 1899.

Thanks go to Matthew Jones and to Erich Muehlthaler of Germany for info on the attack at Cheng-ling-chi ("castle mausoleum beach"). Thanks also go to Jean-francois Masson of Canada.